Attention all Knifemakers!.....Product dealers/retailers and/or knife makers/sharpeners/hobbyists (etc) are not permitted to insert business related text/videos/images (company/company name/product references) and/or links into your signature line, your homepage url (within the homepage profile box), within any posts, within your avatar, nor anywhere else on this site. Market research (such as asking questions regarding or referring to products/services that you make/offer for sale or posting pictures of finished projects) is prohibited. These features are reserved for supporting vendors and hobbyists.....Also, there is no need to announce to the community that you are a knifemaker unless you're trying to sell something so please refrain from sharing.
Thanks for your co-operation!

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Importing knives from Japan

Hi all,

My name is Jerry, and I am researching knivees from Japan. I know a lot of you have purchased knives online or imported knives abroad without first having seen the products in person. What did you look for, and how did you validate the product before you purchased it?

I will assume that you are looking for knives to sell on your site...?

There is a wealth of knowledge here and someone will normally have experience with a knife that someone is considering buying unseen. So someone asks either for a recommendation based on paramaters they set down or might just say "I am considering knife X Y or Z" and request opinions.

Having had a brief look at your site I would say you want to offer a knife with really good F&F and no fancy stuff. Should be easy to find one. Main thing will depend on price point. Small issue is sharpening of J-knives as they do need a bit of attention.

Are you looking for a knife for your site to sell, or are you looking just for one for yourself? Or are you just interested in how people make buying decisions on products that they have never actually seen and handled?

Having had a brief look at your site I would say you want to offer a knife with really good F&F and no fancy stuff. Should be easy to find one.

Great, nothing fancy was kind of what I had in mind as well

Originally Posted by rdpx

Are you looking for a knife for your site to sell, or are you looking just for one for yourself? Or are you just interested in how people make buying decisions on products that they have never actually seen and handled?

A bit of each actually. I am researching on the potential of featuring a couple Japanese knives on our website. So firstly, I wanted to poke around a bit to see if there is a need for that - i.e. are there knives that people like from Japan, but can't find in the US/Canada yet?

Secondly, I wanted to understand what people would consider when buying a knife that they have never seen and handled? Sounds like reviews / other people's opinions are quite important.

However, would you guys say knives are something quite heavily dependent on your individual preferences? I.e. a large selection is better vs a few that are "one size fits all"?

Secondly, I wanted to understand what people would consider when buying a knife that they have never seen and handled? Sounds like reviews / other people's opinions are quite important.

However, would you guys say knives are something quite heavily dependent on your individual preferences? I.e. a large selection is better vs a few that are "one size fits all"?

People's opinions matter a lot, because there clearly isn't a way of measuring how good a knife is. If you're serious about getting into it, I'd do a lot of reading and perhaps get an idea of something you'd like to try or think would sell well then go from there

People's opinions matter a lot, because there clearly isn't a way of measuring how good a knife is. If you're serious about getting into it, I'd do a lot of reading and perhaps get an idea of something you'd like to try or think would sell well then go from there

Agreed, but it has to be the right person's opinion. For example, I'm a home cook, and if I dice three onions for a meal, that's a lot. So, my opinion on edge retention is not worth a lot to a pro. Food release is important to a pro because it affects output, but less important to a home cook where is is just an annoyance. And the ability for a knife to cut a plastic water bottle is entertaining, but worthless in determining the performance of the knife in food.

Most of the good dealers have spent years cultivating relationships, traveling to Japan for research, educating themselves about the products, and cooking seriously (some of them professionally). Given that you have no current expertise, it seems unlikely that you would make good choices about gaps in the current market that you could fill, and it doesn't seem reasonable to expect that people here would do that work for you. If you want to compete with existing dealers, you shouldn't expect their help, nor that of their dedicated customers. And without extensive knowledge and experience, you're not going to be a viable competitor, anyway.

If, on the other hand, you just want a small selection of knives to complement your existing product lines, you might consider cultivating a relationship with one of the established dealers. One of them might be willing to help you make some smart product choices, give you advice about how to market them, and work out a distributor relationship that allows you to offer some knives without competing with them.